Fruitful cooperation leads to extension for Fonds de Participation

Under the initial agreement FdP was the first financial intermediary to sign up with the EIF in Belgium and also the first financial intermediary in the European Union to sign up under the CIP. This agreement and its extension demonstrate the European Union and EIF's continued commitment to cooperating with this Belgian financial institution.

FdP's signed guarantee agreement with the EIF gave the institution a guarantee to provide micro loans and co-financing with commercial banks to SMEs. The extension allows the institution to further enhance SMEs access to debt finance by providing more financing for start ups and individuals wishing to start their own businesses in Belgium. The extension also includes support to Initio, a recently launched new co-financing loan product of FdP.

Background information:

The CIP, which spans from 2007 to 2013, has been put in place to boost European productivity, innovation capacity and sustainable growth, whilst simultaneously addressing complementary environmental concerns.

Within the framework of the CIP, the EIF has been allocated EUR 1.1bn to be split between venture capital - with the High Growth and Innovative SME Facility (GIF) - and guarantees - with the SME Guarantee Facility (SMEG).

Under the SMEG, financial institutions are encouraged to enhance access to finance for SMEs.  The facility offers an excellent tool to allocate additional financing volumes for those SMEs that would not otherwise have access to resources and financial engineering instruments because of the increased lending risk entailed.  As such, The SMEG complements and broadens EIF's own product offering.

The EU CIP SMEG Facility gives the EIF the opportunity to play an essential role in supporting sustainable job creation and entrepreneurship in European SMEs. 

For further information, please contact David Yormesor, d.yormesor@eif.org